Astros, top pick Aiken fail to reach a deal

1:36 AM,
Jul. 19, 2014

Brady Aiken

Written by

Bob Nightengale
USA Today

The Houston Astros budged, but prized left-handed pitcher Brady Aiken did not, and the Astros lost their first-round pick.

The Astros offered about a $5 million signing bonus on Friday before the 5 p.m. ET deadline, but Aiken stuck to his guns, and refused to sign for less money than the $6.5 million the Astros originally offered last month, a person familiar with the talks told USA Today. The person was not authorized to speak publicly because of the nature of the negotiations.

And Houston's loss was LSU's gain. Because the team failed to sign Aiken, it lost the entire $7.9 million bonus money ...